Extrusion International 4-2025

31 Extrusion International 4/2025 MB: My first impression was of the company’s HQ. It’s a very striking building that is well-known in the city of Kolding, and says much about the quality of the company and its products. I was born and raised here, and still live in Kolding, so the name Vetaphone has been around for as long as I can remember. Over the years I have seen how the company has added more office and produc - tion space and began to hear more about the its growth and development through my professional network. But I never knew exactly what they were producing, nor did I know the Eisby brothers before I came for interview. NC: Has this changed after 100 days in the job? MB: Obviously, I now know what the company does, which is a big help! But seriously, the Eisby brothers were very transparent and honest during their thor- ough recruiting process, and these are values that I truly appreciate. The picture they painted of Vetaphone is very much what I have experienced in my first 100 days. We seem to share the same values, and ‘take’ on peo - ple, and have a management style that is well aligned. It makes discussions easy to the point that we were com- municating on the same frequency from the first day. You could say it was pretty much a perfect start. NC: What do you see as the main challenges both in- ternally and externally? MB: Internally, to maintain the current culture and great camaraderie, but also ensure that we stay agile and alert to market changes so we can respond to them quickly. This will need more structure in the way we run the business and I’m keen to build a strong winning at- titude – a culture of success and expectation. My own style is one of combining soft facts with hard facts, and hard facts is an area where we are already improving. It’s not quite an iron fist in a velvet glove, but statistics can neither be ignored nor denied – it’s the hard reality of the tough commercial environment in which we op- erate, and only the best and strongest will survive. Externally, we need to make sure we develop strategic partnerships with our existing and new customers. Veta- phone has unparalleled knowledge and expertise in sur- face treatment so our approach is more consultancy work than just a matter of selling the product. It’s not enough to know that you need surface treatment, you need to know why, and how it works if you are going to get the best out of what is highly sophisticated technology, so education has always been a central part of our business ethos. Knowledge is power, so our duty is to empower our customers. This we can do with the help of our world- wide agent and service setup, which we believe brings added value to our customers, wherever they are located. NC: That sounds like a lot of change? MB: The business environment is constantly changing – if you stand still, you go backwards. While we’ll need to make changes to grow the company even more, I want to reassure our customers that nothing will be lost to them in terms of expertise, commitment to ongoing de - velopment, and service – and, for the time being at least, the 'Vetaphone family' touch that customers have come to know and appreciate will continue. It’s been the rock on which our success has been built – so, as the saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – but we all know noth - ing stays the same forever and the key point is finding a way to grow the business with happy customers. NC: What do you think are the main assets you bring to the company? MB: Having worked in international sales for most of my career, I have a commercial mindset, and I believe it is very important for every CEO to talk directly to custom- ers, maybe not every day, but as often as possible. How can you define and refine your management policy if you’re not up to date with what’s going on in the outside world? We don’t operate in a vacuum – all our R&D is in direct response to the changing demands of the market- place, and I need to know what they are. I have a sports - man’s mindset frommy career as a national teamgolfer – I am structured, and I constantly want to improve things. Vetaphone has a very strong brand identity in the mar- ket, but I know that the competition is tough and that we must improve every day to keep that unique position. NC: And finally, how important is it to maintain the Eisby family connection? MB: To my mind it’s very important, at least in the early years, because of their unrivalled knowledge and experience in surface treatment. Although both Frank and Jan have stepped back from frontline manage- ment, they still have active roles to play in day-to-day company life here as owners and Board Directors. Frank is now heading-up a new Business Development Unit, while Jan is playing a valuable part in developing the Vetaphone Academy Educational Unit. There will be Eis- bys at Vetaphone for a long time yet, I can assure you! Vetaphone A/S Fabriksvej 11, 6000 Kolding, Denmark www.vetaphone.com Michael Behrens is the first CEO in the company’s history to be an outside appointment – he is seen here with Jan and Frank Eisby, whose father, Verner founded the company in the 1950s